1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data sending device, a data receiving device, a data sending method, and a data receiving method, and more particularly to a data sending device, a data receiving device, a data sending method, and a data receiving method, which have error correction capabilities.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is generally inevitable that errors occur in a communications path and a recording medium. To correct errors, an error correction technique has been used in which redundant data are added to input data to be thereafter sent or recorded so that restoration may be performed in a receiving part when errors occur. With reference to FIG. 1, an information communications device having a conventional error correction function is described.
A redundant data generation part 21 generates redundant data from input data using a predetermined scheme and a control parameter, and supplies the redundant data thus generated to a multiplexing part 23.
The multiplexing part 23 sends the input data and the redundant data multiplexed to a communications path 3.
A demultiplexing part 43 receives the data and supplies the input data to a selection part 45, and supplies the input data and the redundant data to a decoding part 41.
The decoding part 41 performs error correction processes on the supplied input data and redundant data using the predetermined scheme and the control parameter, and supplies corrected data to the selection part 45.
An error detection part 49 detects occurrence of errors using communications information obtained from the communications path 3, and supplies information on the occurrence of errors to the selection part 45. Alternatively, it is possible that, in the decoding part 41, the occurrence of errors may be detected from the input data and the redundant data and information on the occurrence of errors is supplied to the selection part 45.
The above construction allows performing the correction process on errors that occur in the communications path 3.
However, in information communications devices having a conventional error correction function which is, for example, shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Sho 62-188443, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 8-033069, or in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-177459, a redundant data generation scheme and a control parameter are determined in advance. Accordingly, there has been a problem that differences and changes in characteristics of errors of a communications path and the error rate cannot be properly managed.